Game apparatus



Oct. 9, 1962 M. R. LIVINGSTON 3,057,625

GAME APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. '7, 1960 INVENTOR.

MARY R. L/V/NGSTO/V Oct. 9, 1962 M. R. LIVINGSTON GAME APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. '7, 1960 INVENTOR.

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Oct. 9, 1962 M. R. LIVINGSTQN 3,057,625

GAME APPARATUS Filed Oct. 7, 1960 s Sheets-Sheet a [Til-"JUL.

INVENTOR.

MARY R. (IV/NGJTO/V 3,057,625 GAME APPARATUS Mary R. Livingston, 756 Park Ave, .lolmstown, Pa. Filed Oct. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 61,230 6 Claims. (Cl. 273-148) The present invention relates to a game apparatus for mechanical shufiling and dealing freely movable game pieces, as for a hand of cards.

An apparatus for a game should arrange a hand in compact condition so as to be viewed by a player but out of the line of vision of the other players and in such a way as to tore-stall knowledge of the components of the hand. Also, provision should be made so that a part or all of the hand may be discarded and the hand refilled or replaced as desired by the player.

An object of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus which shufiles, deals, and delivers to a group of players game pieces in complete secrecy and without a chance that any player could foretell the value of any of the game pieces.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus which shuttles and deals game pieces to a group of players and at the end of the play gathers the game pieces back together again and reshuifles them.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus which shufiles and deals game pieces to a group of players and permits any one of the players to discard one or more of the hand components in complete secrecy and permits refilling of a portion or all of the hand for the player, also in complete secrecy.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the annexed drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of the game apparatus according to the present invention, a plurality of game pieces being shown resting upon the tray of the apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of one of the game pieces;

FIGURE 3 is a view partially in section of the game piece shown in FIGURE 2 on a slightly enlarged scale;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken on the line 44 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary plan view of a portion of the apparatus with parts of the top of the table and housing broken away;

FIGURE 6 is a view taken on the line 6-6 of FIG- URE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a view taken on the line 7'-7 of FIG- URE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a view taken on the line 88 of FIG- URE 6;

FIGURE 9 is a view taken on the line 99 of FIG- URE 8; and

FIGURE 10 is a view taken on the line 10-10 of FIGURE 9.

Referring to the drawings in detail, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, the game apparatus of the present invention comprises a table 12 supported upon a plurality of legs 14, one at each corner of the table 12, as shown in dotted lines in FIG- URE 1.

A plurality of player stations 16, here shown as four in number, are disposed in spaced relation about the perimeter'of the table 12.

Each station 16 is provided with at least two rows of rests, as at 18 and 20 in FIGURE 5, with the row 18 serving to support a plurality of game pieces 22 so as to constitute a playing hand and the other row 28' serving to support other game pieces 22 when the game ice pieces 22 are received from the row 18 constituting the playing hand, the game pieces being shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 5.

The rows of rests 18 and 20 are formed by V-shaped channels in the stations 16 arranged in lateral spaced relation and connected together by five transversely arranged channels, as at 24 in FIGURES 5 and 6.

A housing 26 is positioned centrally 0t and between all of the stations 16 on the top of the table 12 and is fixedly secured to the top of the table 12. The housing 26 is provided with an access opening 28 centrally thereof.

A horizontally disposed serving tray 30 is positioned within the housing 26 and is rotatably mounted upon the upper end of a fixed spindle 32 with a bearing assembly 34 interposed between the hub 36 of the tray 30- and the spindle 32.

The top surface of the tray 30' slopes upwardly from the hub 36 to the periphery 38 of the tray 30 which is normally contiguous to a semicircular annular groove 40 provided in the inner periphery of the housing 26.

The spindle 32 is supported at its lower end in an upstanding sleeve 42 for sliding movement therethrough responsive to manually applied pressure on the top of a hand wheel 44 carried on the upper end of a stem 46 which projects upwardly from the tray hub 36, as in FIGURE 4.

A coil spring 48 surrounds the portion of the spindle 32 between the sleeve 42 and the underside of the bearing [assembly 34 and biases the spindle 32 and tray 30 to the position within the housing 26.

A pin 50 extends transversely through the lower end portion of the spindle 32 and engages the lower end of the sleeve 42 for preventing removal of the spindle 32 upwardly out of the sleeve 42. The spindle 32 constitutes the means connecting the tray 30 to the housing 26 and table 12 for rotary movement about the spindle 32 as a vertical axis.

A tunnel 52 extends from each station 16 to the perimeter of the tray 30 and has one end opening outwardly over the row 18 and the other end opening into the housing 26 substantially at a tangent to the periphery of the tray 30, as shown best in FIGURE 1.

Hand actuable means is provided at each station 16 and is operable by a player when situated at the station 16 for controlling the ingress of game pieces 22 from the adjacent tunnel 52 onto said row 18 of rest for such game pieces 22. This hand actuable means is shown best in FIGURES 8 to 10, and it comprises a block 54 having a sloping bore 56 therein connected in communication with the free end of the tunnel 52 and with a sleeve 58 leading to the row 18 of the station 16. A first plunger 60 is vertically disposed in the lower end of the block 54 for movement upwardly into the bore 56 into the path of movement of a game piece 22 when the latter is received from the free end of the tunnel 52. Another plunger 62 is similarly disposed in the block 54 and is spaced from the plunger 60 at least a distance equal to the diameter of any one of the game pieces 22, as shown in FIGURE 9. The lower ends of the plungers 60 and 62 are pivotal- 1y connected to the end portions of -a lever 64 rockably supported in a bracket 66 which depends from the block 54.

A vertically disposed plunger '68 is also slidably mounted in the block 54 and has its lower end pivotally connected to the free end of an arm 70 projecting from and fixedly secured to a pivot pin 72 extending into the bracket 66 and fixedly connected to the midpart of the lever 64 for effecting rocking movement of the lever 64 responsive to up and down movement of the plunger 68. This structure is seen most clearly in FIGURE 10. A spring 74 is circumposed about the portion of the pin 72 between the arm 70 and the bracket 66 and biases the plunger 68 to the up position in which the plunger 60 is down and the plunger 62 is up. This permits movement of one of the game pieces 22 down to the position in which the game piece abuts the plunger 62 and is releasable from the plunger 62 by movement of the plunger 68 from the dotted line position shown in FIGURE 6 to the full line position, permitting rolling movement of the game piece 22 onto the row 18 of the station 16.

A receptacle or trough 76 is disposed below each station 16 and is supported from the table 12. Each trough 76 has an outlet 78 facing toward the perimeter of the tray 30. The bottom 80 of the trough 76 at each station 16, normally slopes upwardly as in FIGURE 7 and is pivotally connected to the trough 76 or table 12 by a pivot pin 82 for swinging movement from the normal full line position shown in FIGURE 7 to a depressed and slightly downwardly sloping dotted line position. The free edge of each bottom 80 carries a pair of outwardly projecting lugs 84 and 86 which are engageable by the adjacent part of the tray 30 when the latter executes its downward movement to effect the execution of choking movement of the bottom 80 from the upwardly sloping position to the downwardly sloping position and thus permit rolling discharge of the game pieces 22 on the bottom 80 out the outlet 78 and onto the upper surface of the tray 30.

Releasable gate means is provided operatively connected to each of the rows 18 and 20 of rests for the game pieces 22 of each of the playing stations 16 for permitting delivery of the game pieces 22 into the adjacent and respective trough 76. This structure is seen most clearly in FIGURES to 7 and includes a substantially horizontally disposed floor or gate 88 hingedly connected at one end by a rod 90 rotatably mounted in the end pieces 92 and 94 of the trough 76. A link 96 has one end pivotally connected to the gate 88 and its other end pivotally connected to the flange 98 on the adjacent end of the bottom 80 of the trough 76 for movement of the gate 88 with the bottom 80 when the latter is depressed by engagement of the tray 30 with the lugs 84 and 86.

The other row 20 of rests for the game pieces 22 is pro vided with a fioor or gate 100 (FIGURE 7) having one end mounted upon a pivot shaft 102 journaled in the trough '76 and biased by a coil spring 104 to the position shown in full lines in FIGURE 7 supporting the game pieces 22 in the row 20. A hand actuable lever 106 projects above the table 12 at the adjacent station 16 and has one end connected to the pivot shaft 102. When manual pressure is applied to the lever 106 to rotate the shaft 102, the gate 100 swings from the full line position to the dotted line position shown in FIGURE 7 to release a game piece 22 and permit the same to fall onto the bottom 80 of the trough 76.

Braces 108 secure the sleeve 42 to the table 12 and maintain it in its vertical position so that the tray 30 may travel from the position within the housing 30 to a position out of the housing 30 and in registry with the opening 78 in each of the troughs 76, as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 7.

In FIGURES 2 and 3, are shown a preferred embodiment of the game piece 22 in which a transparent plastic material 110 encloses a cube 112 of opaque material having on its faces indicia representing a playing card of a standard deck of playing cards. Obviously, the invention is not to be limited to a cube mounted within a sphere and a game piece employed with the apparatus of the present invention may assume many forms, as desired.

In operation, the apparatus of the present invention is' employed to play the game by first introducing onto the tray 30 the required number, fifty-two, of game pieces 22, each having separate indicia representing one card of a deck of cards.

With the game pieces 22 lying loosely upon the upper surface of the tray 30, the application of a turning force to the hand wheel 44 will rotate the tray 30'and eject the' game pieces 22 outwardly as a result of centrifugal force to the groove 40 in the housing 26. Upon rotation of the tray 30 in the clockwise direction with reference to FIGURE 1, the game pieces 22 will enter the tunnels 52 and the first game piece 22 in each tunnel 52 will be stopped by the respective plunger 62. Upon depression of the plunger 68, the plunger 62 will release a single game piece 22 and permit the same to roll outwardly of the sleeve 58 onto the groove forming the rest 18.

\Vhen each player has received the requisite number of game pieces 22 to fill the transverse grooves or channels 24 at their intersections with the row 18 of the respective station 16, the game may commence by each player in turn, starting from the dealer, discarding unwanted game pieces 22 and shifting the same from the row 18 to the row 20 of the station 16.

Next, each player in turn calls for replacement game pieces 22 for the discarded game pieces placed upon the row 20. The rules of the game may be that the discarded game pieces are required to remain in the row 20 until the replacement game pieces have been spun off of the tray 30 and into the respective tunnel 52. From the tunnel 52 they are released onto the row 18 until the row 18 is filled as required by the rules of the game. The players may then release by pressing the lever 106 the discarded game pieces 22 on the row 20 into the trough 76 below the station 16.

When all of the players at the stations 16 have received the required game pieces and the game has been concluded, one of the players or the dealer may depress the tray 30 by the application of pressure on the upper end of the hand wheel 44 so that the tray 30 executes its downward movement to shift each of the bottoms of the troughs 76 to the tilted down position which permits rolling of the game pieces 22 from the troughs 76 onto the tray 30 which is then released and permitted to resume its position within the housing 26.

The advantages of the apparatus in playing the game of cards are obvious. Errors, which frequently occur when cards are dealt by hand, are eliminated and the chances that the values of the cards are displayed to other players are obviated. The apparatus of the present invention provides a means by which game pieces representing the cards of the deck may be dealt secretly and in such order as to forestall knowledge of their value. The apparatus of the present invention speeds up the game, as it is only necessary to rotates, by hand, the tray 30 and thereby delivering to the tunnels 52 the game pieces 22in such order as they may assume by their mixing on the tray 30 during rotation of the latter.

As each game piece is delivered onto the row 18 of each station 16, by manipulation of the plunger 68, the row 18 becomes filled and the game pieces 22 may be discarded therefrom by manually moving them into the row 20. Due to the position of the stations 16, the other players about the table 12 will note the number of game pieces moved to the row 20 without being able to see clearly their respective values.

As soon as each player has been dealt the additional game pieces 22 required to fill his hand, the player releases the discarded game pieces into the trough 76 where the game pieces are held until the end of the hand.

It will be seen therefore that the apparatus of the present invention makes a mechanical game of poker with all the requirements of secrecy and avoiding all of the pitfalls of improper dealing of cards and errors which often occur in the selection of discarded cards when a player attempts to fill a poker hand to a desired value.

What is claimed is:

1. In a game apparatus, a table provided with a plurality of player stations disposed in spaced relation about the perimeter thereof, each station embodying a playing surface provided with at least two rows of rests, one of said rows of rests serving to support a plurality of game pieces so as to constitute a playing hand and the other of said rows of restsserving to support game pieces when received from the adjacent row constituting the playing hand, each of said rows embodying a plurality of channels arranged in lateral spaced relation, each of the channels of said onerow being connected to the adjacent channel of said other row by a transversely disposed channel, a trough below the channels of each station and supported from said table and having an outlet, releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of each of said other rows of rests of each playing surface for permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported upon said other rows into the respective troughs, and releasable discharge means embodying an upwardly sloping bottom in each of said troughs adjacent the outlet thereof and swingably mounted in each of said troughs for movement from the upwardly sloping position to a depressed and slightly downwardly sloping position for controlling the egress of the game pieces from said troughs when delivered from the respective other rows.

2. In a game apparatus, a table provided with a plurality of player stations disposed in spaced relation about the perimeter thereof, each station embodying a playing surface provided with at least two rows of rests, one of said rows of rests serving to support a plurality of game pieces so as to constitute a playing hand and the other of said rows of rests serving to support game pieces when received from the adjacent row constituting the playing hand, each of said rows embodying a plurality of channels arranged in lateral spaced relation, each of the channels of said one row being connected to the adjacent channel of said other row by a transversely disposed channel, a trough below the channels of each station and supported from said table and having an outlet, a first releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of said one row of rests of each playing surface for permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported on said one row of rests into the respective troughs, a second releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of each of said other rows of rests of each playing surface for permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported on said other rows into the respective troughs, releasable discharge means embodying an upwardly sloping bottom in each of said troughs adjacent the outlet thereof and swingably mounted in each of said troughs for movement from the upwardly sloping position to a depressed and slightly downwardly sloping position controlling the egress of the same pieces from said troughs when delivered from either of said rows, and means operatively connecting said first floor to said bottom for actuation therewith.

3. In a game apparatus, a table provided with a plurality of player stations disposed in spaced relation about the perimeter thereof, a housing positioned between said stations and fixedly supported upon said table, a serving tray adapted to support a plurality of game pieces disposed Within said housing and connected to said table and housing for rotary movement about a vertical axis, a tunnel extending from each station to the perimeter of said tray, a trough below each station and supported from said table and having an outlet facing toward the perimeter of said tray, each station embodying a playing surface provided with at least two rows of rests, one of said rows of rests serving to support a plurality of game pieces so as to constitute a playing hand and the other of said rows of rests serving to support game pieces when received from the adjacent row of rests constituting the playing hand, each of said rows embodying a plurality of channels arranged in lateral spaced relation, each of the channels of said one row being connected to the adjacent channel of said other row by a transversely disposed channel, releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of each of said other rows of rests of each playing surface for permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported upon said other rows into the respective troughs, releasable discharge means embodying an upwardly sloping bottom in each of said troughs adjacent the outlet thereof and swingably mounted in each of said troughs for movement from the inwardly sloping position to a depressed and slightly downwardly sloping position for controlling the egress of the game pieces from said troughs to said tray when delivered from the respective other rows, and hand actuable means at each station and operable by a player situated at said station for controlling the ingress of game pieces from the respective station tunnel when disposed therein onto said channels of said one row of rests of said playing surface, said tray being operable manually to execute its rotary movement to thereby cause the ingress of game pieces when supported on said tray into said tunnels.

4-. In a game apparatus, a table provided with a plurality of player stations disposed in spaced relation about the perimeter thereof, a housing positioned between said stations and fixedly supported upon said table, a serving tray adapted to support a plurality of game pieces disposed within said housing and connected to said table and housing for rotary movement about a vertical axis, a tunnel extending from each station to the perimeter of said tray, a trough below each station and supported from said table and having an outlet facing toward the perimeter of said tray, each station embodying a playing surface provided with at least two rows of rests, one of said rows of rests serving to support a plurality of game pieces so as to constitute a playing hand and the other of said rows of rests serving to support game pieces when received from the adjacent row of rests constituting the playing hand, each of said rows embodying a plurality of channels arranged in lateral spaced relation, each of the channels of said one row being connected to the adjacent channel of said other rowby a transversely disposed channel, first releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of said one row of rests of each playing surface for, permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported on said one row of rests into the respective troughs, a second releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of each of said other rows of rests of each playing surface for permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported on said other rows into the respective troughs, releasable discharge means embodying an upwardly sloping bottom in each of said troughs adjacent the outlet thereof and swingably mounted in each of said troughs for movement from the upwardly sloping position to a depressed and slightly downwardly sloping position for controlling the egress of the game pieces from said troughs to said tray when delivered from either of said rows, means operatively connecting said first floor to said bottom for actuation therewith, and hand actuable means at each station and operable by a player situated at said station for controlling the ingress of game pieces from the respective station tunnel when disposed therein onto said one row of rests of said playing surface, said tray being operable manually to execute its rotary movement to thereby cause the ingress of game pieces when supported on said tray into said tunnels.

5. In a game apparatus, a table provided with a plurality of player stations disposed in spaced relation about the perimeter thereof, a housing positioned between said stations and fixedly supported upon said table, a serving tray adapted to support a plurality of game pieces disposed within said housing and connected to said table and housing for movement from the position within said housing to a position beneath said housing and for rotary movement about a vertical axis, a tunnel extending from each station to the perimeter of said tray, a trough below each station and supported from said table and having an outlet facing toward the perimeter of said tray, each station embodying a playing surface provided with at least two rows of rests, one of said rows of rests serving to support a plurality of game pieces so as to constitute a playing hand and the other of said rows of rests serving to support game pieces when received from the adjacent row of rests constituting the playing hand, each of said rows embodying a plurality of channels arranged in lat eral spaced relation, each of the channels of said one row being connected to the adjacent channel of said other row by a transversely disposed channel, first releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of said one row of rests of each playing surface for permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported on said one row of rests into the respective troughs, a second releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of each of said other rows of rests of each playing surface for permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported on said other rows into the respective troughs, releasable discharge means embodying an upwardly sloping bottom in each of said troughs adjacent the outlet thereof and swingably mounted in each of said troughs for movement from the upwardly sloping position to a depressed and slightly downwardly sloping position for controlling the egress of the game pieces from said troughs to said tray when delivered from either of said rows, and hand actuable means at each station and operable by a player situated at said station for controlling the ingress of game pieces from the respective station tunnel when disposed therein onto said one row of rests of said playing surface, said tray being operable manually to execute its rotary movement to thereby cause the ingress of game pieces when supported on said tray into said tunnels and being operable manually to execute its movement from the position within said housing to the position beneath said housing and release said bottoms to thereby permit the egress of game pieces when in said troughs from said trough outlets onto said tray.

6. In a game apparatus, a table provided with a plurality of player stations disposed in spaced relation about the perimeter thereof, a housing positioned between said stations and fixedly supported upon said table, a serving tray adapted to support a plurality of game pieces disposed within said housing and connected to said table and housing for rotary movement about a vertical axis, and for movement from the position within said housing to a position beneath said housing, spring means operatively connected to said tray urging said tray to the position within said housing, a tunnel extending from each station to the perimeter of said tray, a trough below each station and supported from said table and having an outlet facing toward the perimeter of said tray, each station embodying a playing surface provided with at least two rows of rests, one of said rows of rests serving to support a plurality of game pieces so as to constitute a playing hand and the other of said rows of rests serving to support games pieces when received from the adjacent row of rests constituting the playing hand, each of said rows embodying a plurality of channels arranged in lateral spaced relation, each of the channels of said one row being connected to the adjacent channel of said other row by a transversely disposed channel, releasable gate means embodying a pivotally mounted floor forming the channels of each of said other rows of rests of each playing surface for permitting delivery of said game pieces when supported upon said other rows into the respective troughs, releasable discharge means embodying an upwardly sloping bottom in each of said troughs adjacent the outlet thereof and swingably mounted in each of said troughs for movement from the upwardly sloping position to a depressed and slightly downwardly sloping position for controlling the egress of the game pieces from said troughs to said tray when delivered from the respective other rows, and hand actuable means at each station and operable by a player situated at said station for controlling the ingress of game pieces from the respective station tunnel when disposed therein onto said one row of rests of said playing surface, said tray being operable manually to execute its rotary movement to thereby cause the ingress of game pieces when supported on said tray into said tunnels and being operable manually to execute its movement from the position within said housing to the position beneath said housing and release said bottoms to thereby permit the egress of game pieces when in said troughs from said trough outlets onto said tray.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,026,682 Jeffries Jan. 7, 1936 2,087,221 MacClatchie July 13, 1937 2,334,093 Hickey Nov. 9, 1943 

